And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish.
After the dark period described in the Old Testament book of Judges, Israel’s desperate situation began to turn around with the prayer of a woman named Hannah. “In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly” She didn’t recite mental prayers as we often do; her heart went out to the Lord. Amid the backslidden and even corrupt religious establishment of that day, we see a desperate, simple woman stirred to pray a prayer that will usher in a new day in Israel’s history. In her prayer she promised God that if he gave her a son, she would dedicate him to the Lord for as long as he lived. When she finished praying, she got something to eat, and her face was no longer downcast. It was as if she knew something was about to change. Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.
Now, what was it that stirred Hannah to pray a prayer that changed the future of Israel? Hannah chose not to live in denial. When mocked, she could have said, “Who cares? I’m not into kids. It is the will of God kind of!” But she didn’t. She faced the truth (as painful as it was), saying, “I want a baby, I want a son, I want to be fruitful.”
Hannah did not only refused to deny her situation, neither did she accept it as ‘fait accompli’ she turned to God and her unique prayer became the channel that provoked God to turn the tide in Israel and bring much-needed blessing upon them.
The lesson is clear for us today. We must not silently accept our lack of fruitfulness and somehow justify it as God’s will for us. Let us honestly face our circumstances and then desperately prayed for God to change them.
What was in her prayer that God could not ignore?
No doubt Hannah’s prayer was powerful and effective, the kind James describes in his epistle (James 5:16), but I would say hers was both the heightened element of desperation coupled with deep faith in God. Hannah had no other place to turn. It was as if, in her great anguish and grief, she cried, “Make me fruitful, or I don’t want to go on.” She was at her end. “Give me a child or I will die!” God heard Hannah’s prayer, and her prayer became the pathway to divine intervention.Furthermore, God wanted her story told in detail in the Bible, so future generations would recognize that Israel’s turnaround started with a lonely, heartbroken woman who just wanted to bear fruit.
Desperate and soul-stirring prayers like hers result in answers. When God is sought in desperation, he responds. Even in hopeless situations. Just like Hannah, we have areas in our life where we desperately need to experience a breakthrough. Do you believe prayer can change your situation? What are you desperately seeking God for in your life?